Method and arrangement for a primary actions menu for email applications on a handheld electronic device

ABSTRACT

A system and method is disclosed that provides for displaying on the screen of a handheld electronic device, an extended menu or a short menu, which is a subset of the corresponding extended menu. The system and method include a list of email messages associated with an email box being displayed on a screen. If at least one email message is designated through use of the auxiliary user input device and no menu is displayed, the user may initiate an ambiguous request. Various short menus are provided with their respective menu items being dependent and adjustable based upon the position of a cursor on the display page, the currently opened application, and/or the previous selections. Further, a selection from the short menu is capable of displaying the extended menu corresponding thereto.

CROSS REFERENCE

The present application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/423,837, filed Jun. 13, 2006 and claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/773,145 60/773,798,60/773,799, and 60/773,800, filed Feb. 13, 2006, Feb. 14, 2006, Feb. 14,2006, and Feb. 14, 2006, respectively. Said applications are eachexpressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure, in a broad sense, is directed toward handheldelectronic devices including those without communication capabilitiessuch as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). More specifically, thedisclosure is directed toward handheld communication devices that havewireless communication capabilities and the networks within which thewireless communication devices operate. Furthermore, the presentdisclosure also relates to the user interfaces of the device, as well asthe software that controls and runs applications on the device. Moreparticularly, the instant disclosure addresses predictive-type actionmenus that accommodate and facilitate user interaction and control overthe device.

BACKGROUND

With the advent of more robust wireless communications systems,compatible handheld communication devices are becoming more prevalent,as well as advanced. Where in the past such handheld communicationdevices typically accommodated either voice transmission (cell phones)or text transmission (pagers and PDAs), today's consumer often demands acombination device capable of performing both types of transmissions,including even sending and receiving e-mail. Furthermore, thesehigher-performance devices can also be capable of sending and receivingother types of data including that which allows the viewing and use ofInternet websites. These higher level functionalities necessarilyrequire greater user interaction with the devices through included userinterfaces (UIs) which may have originally been designed to accommodatemaking and receiving telephone calls and sending messages over a relatedShort Messaging Service (SMS). As might be expected, suppliers of suchmobile communication devices and the related service providers areanxious to meet these customer requirements, but the demands of thesemore advanced functionalities have in many circumstances rendered thetraditional user interfaces unsatisfactory, a situation that has causeddesigners to have to improve the UIs through which users inputinformation and control these sophisticated operations.

Most application programs are menu-driven as opposed to beingcommand-driven. Menu-driven applications provide a list of possibleaction commands or options from which a user may choose, whilecommand-driven applications require users to enter explicit commands.Thus, menu-driven applications are generally easier for the average userto learn than are command-driven applications. Menus are typicallyimplemented as a list of textual or graphical choices (i.e., menu items)from which a user can choose. Thus, menus allow a user to select a menuitem, for example, by pointing to the item with a mouse and thenclicking on the item. Examples of other methods of selecting menu itemsinclude highlighting an item and then hitting the “return” key or“enter” key, and pressing directly on a menu item through atouch-sensitive screen.

One particularly useful type of menu is a hierarchical menu.Hierarchical menus typically present a parent menu that has selectablemenu items. The selection of each menu item normally causes anothermenu, or submenu, to be displayed next to the currently displayed menu.The submenu has additional menu choices that are related to the selectedparent menu item. Also, the parent menu results in the display of thesubmenu. The depth of a hierarchical menu can extend in this manner tomany levels of submenus.

The conventional hierarchical menus generally lay out from left to rightacross a display screen as menu choices are selected. This menu formatprovides various advantages such as retaining previous and current menuson the display screen at the same time. This provides a historical menumap as menu selections are made and their corresponding submenus aredisplayed across the screen. Users can therefore review previous menuselections that have been made while progressing to the most recentlydisplayed menu—thus making it easier to move between different menuitems and menu levels.

Although such hierarchical menus provide useful advantages, there arescenarios in which their use is impracticable. One such scenario is whenhierarchical menus are used on devices having small display screens. Theproblems presented when attempting to implement conventionalhierarchical menus on small-screen devices have generally discouragedthe use of hierarchical menus with such devices.

One problem relates to the layout of conventional hierarchical menus.Hierarchical menus generally lay out across the display screen from leftto right. On small-screen devices where the room on the screen is notwide enough to accommodate all of the menus, the menus often lay outacross the screen in both directions, from left to right and back again.In this scenario, the menus typically begin to overlap one another,creating various problems. One problem is that the overlapping menus canbe confusing to the user. Overlapping menus can make it difficult for auser to discern previous menu selections which can, in turn, make itdifficult to determine how to return to previous menus to make differentmenu selections. Thus, one of the intended benefits of a hierarchicalmenu can be undermined when the hierarchical menu is implemented on asmall-screen device.

Overlapping menus can also create problems with small-screen devices (aswell as others) that employ pen-based or stylus-based touch-sensitivescreens. With such devices, it is often difficult to maintain contactcontinuity between menus on the screen when the menus are overlapping.In other words, it is easy to move off of menus with small-screen,touch-based devices. If continuity is lost when moving from one menu toanother, menus will often disappear from the screen, causing the user tohave to go back and reactivate the menu from a prior menu. This problembecomes worse when using pen-based devices that “track”. In the presentcontext, the terminology of “tracking” is used to indicate a situationin which a cursor on the screen follows (tracks) the movement of the penas the pen moves over the screen even though the pen is not touching thescreen. Tracking is lost if the pen is pulled too far away from thescreen. Thus, pen-based devices that “track” tend to lose more menuswhen hierarchical menus are employed.

One method of addressing this issue involves displaying submenus inplace of a parent menu, and vice versa, when the appropriate menu itemsare selected from within the parent menus and submenus. Like a typicalhierarchical menu, the depth of a hierarchical in-place menu can extendin this manner to many levels of submenus such as second, third, fourthand fifth levels, with submenus being parent menus to other submenus.Parent menu items selected from within parent menus are displayed withinsubmenus as links back to previous parent menus and are separated fromthat submenu's items by a divider. For example, parent menu item “LaunchApp” is from a parent menu and thus includes a forward pointer thatindicates a submenu will replace the first parent menu upon selection of“Launch App”. In each of the submenus, “Launch App” has a backwardpointing arrow that facilitates going back to a previous menu in thehierarchy.

However, another disadvantage of hierarchical menus is the number ofmenu items presented in each menu. Each of the menus provides the fullcomplement of available menu items. This can be overwhelming for anovice user and irritating to an experienced user. This problem isexacerbated to an extent by the addition of a hierarchical history ofparent menus added to the list.

Another approach to the problem of dealing with a full or extended menu,which lists all available menu items at that particular level, uses aradio communication device that provides an extended menu and a shortmenu—a subset of the extended menu—and the ability to select between thetwo. The short menu is a dynamic menu in that a user selects menu itemsfrom the corresponding extended menu to be included in the short menu.

A disadvantage of this approach is that the novice user will be furtheroverwhelmed with having to build the various short menus. Theexperienced user may be disinclined from having to go through theinitial set-up procedure of the short menus.

Another disadvantage of a hierarchical menu system is the requirement ofproceeding through each menu of the hierarchy to reach the desiredaction or menu item. This process adds various steps that can frustrateusers, due to the lack of intuitiveness in getting from point A to pointB from the user's point of view.

Accordingly, as the demand for small-screen devices capable of runningincreasingly complex applications continues to grow, the need exists fora way to implement user control interface menus that overcome thevarious disadvantages with conventional dropdown-style hierarchicalmenus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary methods and arrangements conducted and configured according tothe advantageous solutions presented herein are depicted in theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a handheld communication device cradled in the palm of auser's hand;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representing a wireless handheld communicationdevice interacting in a communication network;

FIG. 3 a is a device-displayed home screen which shows a set of iconsrepresenting various applications available on the device and the emailicon is selected;

FIG. 3 b is a device-displayed home screen which shows another set oficons representing various applications available on the device and theemail icon is selected;

FIG. 4 is a device-displayed high level extended menu associated withthe email icon on the home screen;

FIG. 5 a is a device-displayed email listing;

FIG. 5 b is a device-displayed extended menu relevant to the emaillisting;

FIG. 5 c is a device-displayed open message chosen from the emaillisting;

FIG. 5 d is a user requested short menu that presents frequently desiredactions relative to an open email message;

FIG. 5 e is an extended menu that presents further options relevant toan open email message which was displayed based on a user selection ofthe “show more” option of FIG. 5 d;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart representative of a hierarchical menu process;

FIG. 7 depicts an expedited menuing system on a handheld electronicdevice in which a short or abbreviated menu pops-up showing a listing ofmost likely actions the user may desire to perform, in the illustratedcase, relative to one or more designated email messages;

FIG. 8 further illustrates the hierarchical menu process depicted inFIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a front view of an exemplary handheld electronic deviceincluding a full QWERTY keyboard;

FIG. 10 a illustrates an exemplary QWERTY keyboard layout;

FIG. 10 b illustrates an exemplary QWERTZ keyboard layout;

FIG. 10 c illustrates an exemplary AZERTY keyboard layout;

FIG. 10 d illustrates an exemplary Dvorak keyboard layout;

FIG. 11 illustrates a QWERTY keyboard layout paired with a traditionalten-key keyboard;

FIG. 12 illustrates ten digits comprising the numerals 0-9 arranged in atelephone keypad configuration, including the * and # flanking the zero;and

FIG. 13 illustrates a numeric phone key arrangement according to the ITUStandard E.161 including both numerals and letters.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An exemplary handheld electronic device 300 and its cooperation in awireless network 319 is exemplified in the block diagram of FIG. 2. Thisfigure is exemplary only, and those persons skilled in the art willappreciate the additional elements and modifications necessary to makethe device 300 work in particular network environments.

The block diagram of FIG. 2, denotes the device's 300 inclusion of amicroprocessor 338 that controls the operation of the device 300. Acommunication subsystem 311 performs all communication transmission andreception with the wireless network 319. The microprocessor 338 furtherconnects with an auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystem 328, a serialport (preferably a Universal Serial Bus port) 330, a display 322, akeyboard 332, a speaker 334, a microphone 336, random access memory(RAM) 326, and flash memory 324. Other communication subsystems 340 andother device subsystems 342 are generally indicated as beingfunctionally connected with the microprocessor 338 as well. An exampleof a communication subsystem 340 is that of a short range communicationsystem such as BLUETOOTH® communication module or an infrared device andassociated circuits and components. Additionally, the microprocessor 338is able to perform operating system 408 functions and preferably enablesexecution of software applications on the communication device 300.

The included auxiliary I/O subsystem 328 can take the form of a varietyof different navigation tools including a trackball 121 based device, athumbwheel 221, a navigation pad, or a joystick, just as examples. Thesenavigation tools are preferably located on the front surface of thedevice 300 but may be located on any exterior surface of the device 300.Other auxiliary I/O devices can include external display devices andexternally connected keyboards (not shown). While the above exampleshave been provided in relation to the auxiliary I/O subsystem 328, othersubsystems capable of providing input or receiving output from thehandheld electronic device 300 are considered within the scope of thisdisclosure. Additionally, other keys may be placed along the side of thedevice 300 to function as escape keys, volume control keys, scrollingkeys, power switches, or user programmable keys, and may likewise beprogrammed accordingly.

In an exemplary embodiment, the flash memory 324 is enabled to provide astorage location for the operating system 408, device programs 358, anddata. The operating system 408 is generally configured to manage otherapplication programs 358 that are also stored in memory 324 andexecutable on the processor 338. The operating system 408 honorsrequests for services made by application programs 358 throughpredefined application program 358 interfaces. More specifically, theoperating system 408 typically determines the order in which multipleapplications 358 executed on the processor 338 and the execution timeallotted for each application 358, manages the sharing of memory 324among multiple applications 358, handles input and output to and fromother device subsystems 342, and so on. In addition, users can typicallyinteract directly with the operating system 408 through a user interfaceusually including the keyboard 332 and display screen 322. While theoperating system 408 in a preferred embodiment is stored in flash memory324, the operating system 408 in other embodiments is stored inread-only memory (ROM) or similar storage element (not shown). As thoseskilled in the art will appreciate, the operating system 408, deviceapplication 358 or parts thereof may be loaded in RAM 326 or othervolatile memory.

In a preferred embodiment, the flash memory 324 containsprograms/applications 358 for execution on the device 300 including anaddress book 352, a personal information manager (PIM) 354, and thedevice state 350. Furthermore, programs 358 and other information 356including data can be segregated upon storage in the flash memory 324 ofthe device 300.

When the device 300 is enabled for two-way communication within thewireless communication network 319, it can send and receive signals froma mobile communication service. Examples of communication systemsenabled for two-way communication include, but are not limited to, theGPRS (General Packet Radio Service) network, the UMTS (Universal MobileTelecommunication Service) network, the EDGE (Enhanced Data for GlobalEvolution) network, and the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) networkand those networks, generally described as packet-switched, narrowband,data-only technologies which are mainly used for short burst wirelessdata transfer. For the systems listed above, the communication device300 must be properly enabled to transmit and receive signals from thecommunication network 319. Other systems may not require suchidentifying information. GPRS, UMTS, and EDGE require the use of a SIM(Subscriber Identity Module) in order to allow communication with thecommunication network 319. Likewise, most CDMA systems require the useof a RUIM (Removable Identity Module) in order to communicate with theCDMA network. The RUIM and SIM card can be used in multiple differentcommunication devices 300. The communication device 300 may be able tooperate some features without a SIM/RUIM card, but it will not be ableto communicate with the network 319. A SIM/RUIM interface 344 locatedwithin the device 300 allows for removal or insertion of a SIM/RUIM card(not shown). The SIM/RUIM card features memory and holds keyconfigurations 351, and other information 353 such as identification andsubscriber related information. With a properly enabled communicationdevice 300, two-way communication between the communication device 300and communication network 319 is possible.

If the communication device 300 is enabled as described above or thecommunication network 319 does not require such enablement, the two-waycommunication enabled device 300 is able to both transmit and receiveinformation from the communication network 319. The transfer ofcommunication can be from the device 300 or to the device 300. In orderto communicate with the communication network 319, the device 300 in apreferred embodiment is equipped with an integral or internal antenna318 for transmitting signals to the communication network 319. Likewisethe communication device 300 in the preferred embodiment is equippedwith another antenna 316 for receiving communication from thecommunication network 319. These antennae (316, 318) in anotherpreferred embodiment are combined into a single antenna (not shown). Asone skilled in the art would appreciate, the antenna or antennae (316,318) in another embodiment are externally mounted on the device 300.

When equipped for two-way communication, the communication device 300features a communication subsystem 311. As is well known in the art,this communication subsystem 311 is modified so that it can support theoperational needs of the device 300. The subsystem 311 includes atransmitter 314 and receiver 312 including the associated antenna orantennae (316, 318) as described above, local oscillators (LOs) 313, anda processing module 320 which in a preferred embodiment is a digitalsignal processor (DSP) 320.

It is contemplated that communication by the device 300 with thewireless network 319 can be any type of communication that both thewireless network 319 and device 300 are enabled to transmit, receive andprocess. In general, these can be classified as voice and data. Voicecommunication is communication in which signals for audible sounds aretransmitted by the device 300 through the communication network 319.Data is all other types of communication that the device 300 is capableof performing within the constraints of the wireless network 319.

In one respect, the present disclosure is directed toward a method fordisplaying an abbreviated menu on the screen of a handheld electronicdevice 300 at the request of the user. Typical examples of such devicesinclude PDAs, mobile telephones and multi-mode communicator devices suchas those capable of transmitting both voice and text messages such asemail. The method includes displaying a cursor-navigable page on ascreen 322 of a handheld electronic device 300. One example would be thetext of an open email message 620. Next, the user initiates an ambiguousrequest for the display of menu options corresponding to the displayedpage while a cursor is positioned at a location on the page that is notvisually signified for menu display actuation. For instance, with thescreen cursor positioned upon the body of the open email message 620,but where there is no visual indicator that the location is one whichwill cause a menu to be displayed if actuated, an action is taken suchas pressing a button on the device 300 that indicates the user's desireto take action with respect to the displayed page (open email message620). There are several actions which might be taken with respect to theopen email message 620, but none has been specified; therefore, therequest is termed ambiguous. Responsively, the device 300, under thecontrol of an included microprocessor 338, displays a short menu 624having a first list of menu items which is a subset of a second list ofmenu items that make up an extended menu 618 associated with thedisplayed page. This first list of menu items has been assessed a higherprobability for being user-selected or desired than at least some of theremaining items of the second list. This means that there is a long list(the second list) of actions that might be taken when the email messageis displayed, but there is also a predefined short subset (the firstlist) of actions of this long list which have been assessed to be morefrequently selected/desired, so it is this short listing of selectableactions that is displayed in response to the user's ambiguous requestsince one of the available actions on the short list is likely tosatisfy the user's need.

In at least one version of the device 300, the user's ambiguous requestis made through an auxiliary user input device 328 on the handheldelectronic device 300. One example of the auxiliary user input device328 is a navigation tool, such as a trackball 121, that controlsmovement of the cursor on the screen 322 of the handheld electronicdevice 300.

The device 300 may also include an input that issues a non-ambiguousrequest to display the extended menu 618 associated with the displayedpage, and which may be simply constituted by an actuable button or thelike.

In order to facilitate usability, it is also contemplated thatselectable items on the short listing can include choices to expand theshort menu 624 to the extended menu 618, or to close the short menu 624.In order to reinforce the commonality between the extended menu 618choice on the short list and the dedicated push-button for the longlist, each is marked with a similar insignia.

In order to take full advantage of the small screen 322 of the handhelddevice 300, the short menu 624 is displayed on the screen 322 in placeof the displayed page, and preferably fills a substantial entirety ofthe screen 322.

Benefits of the disclosed hierarchical menu system include the abilityto implement a hierarchical menu on devices having varying screen sizes,including small-screen devices. The disclosed hierarchical menu permitsthe display of one menu at a time. In an almost intuitive manner, themethods disclosed allow the user to make an ambiguous selection todirectly open a particular item on a displayed page or to display ashort menu 624 of items typically used with a displayed page. Thisreduces user confusion and enhances usability of the system. By using a“menu” item on the short menu 624 or a menu key 606, the user always hasthe option to view the extended menu 618 associated with the displayedpage. By using a “back” menu item or key 608, the user can navigate topreviously displayed menus within the string of historically selectedmenus without cluttering the displayed menus with such historical items.

The menuing task is generally performed by a menuing subsystem orhierarchical menu module 412 of an operating system 408 executing on ahandheld electronic device 300. Accordingly, as illustrated relative tothe handheld electronic device 300 of FIG. 2, a hierarchical menu module412 is implemented as part of the operating system 408. In general, themodule 412 is configured to receive menu calls from various applications358 and to service those calls by displaying a menu on a display screen322 according to the parameters provided by the application 358 makingthe menu call. Although module 412 is illustrated as being part ofoperating system 408, it is noted that the module 412 might alsofunction as a stand-alone module 412 stored in memory 324 and executableon a processor 338. In general, although the functioning of module 412as part of operating system 408 is preferred, it is not intended as alimitation regarding its implementation by a handheld electronic device300.

In addition to managing typical menuing functions, the hierarchical menumodule 412 implements a hierarchical menu in accordance with applicationprograms 358 that support hierarchical menus. Thus, for applications 358designed to provide hierarchical menus, hierarchal menu module 412 isconfigured to implement those hierarchical menus as hierarchical menuswith ambiguous selection. The implementation of a hierarchical menu as ahierarchical menu with ambiguous selection can occur automatically forany application 358 making a hierarchical menu call to operating system408. Alternatively, it can occur based on a specific request from anapplication 358 to implement the hierarchical menu as a hierarchicalmenu with ambiguous selection. Thus, handheld electronic device 300manufacturers can configure the devices to automatically providehierarchical menus which facilitate application developers. This enablesapplication developers to design hierarchical menus, both extended 618and short 624, in a typical manner without making any changes to theirapplication 358 source code. Alternatively, handheld electronic device300 manufacturers can configure devices 300 to provide hierarchicalmenus with ambiguous selection by default, or upon request forapplication 358 developers. This enables application 358 developers todesign hierarchical menus in a typical manner and further allows them todetermine if application 358 menus will be implemented as hierarchicalmenus with ambiguous selection by making a simple selection throughtheir application 358 source code to identify what action should occurin response to an ambiguous selection and populate short menus 624 withpreferably those actions, tasks or other commands most commonly usedwith respect to the displayed page on the screen 322.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 3 a, 3 b, 4, and 5 a-5 e, the following is adiscussion and comparison of the use of the extended 618 and short 624menus on the handheld electronic device 300.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the device 300 has a first inputcontroller, which is preferably an auxiliary I/O subsystem 328 having adepressible rolling member or trackball 121, which is used to access theshort menu 624. The handheld device 300 also has a second inputcontroller, in this case menu key 606, which is used to access theapplicable extended menu 618. These menus 618, 624 are based on theinterface principle of see and click. In this manner, users do not haveto remember commands or options because they can view these options atany time.

FIG. 1 also depicts a display screen 322 and keyboard 332. The displayscreen 322 serves as a user interface (UI) visually presentinginformation to the user. The trackball 121 and the menu key 606 are partof the input portion 604 (not shown in FIG. 1). To the right of thetrackball 121 is a back key 608, which is used to back-up throughprevious screens or menus displayed on the display screen 322.

The initial screen for the device 300 is a home screen 610. Two examplesof a home screen 610 are shown in FIGS. 3 a and 3 b, which showdifferent sets of icons representing various applications 358 that areavailable on the device 300. The user can perform desired high-levelactivities from the home screen 610, and within an application 358explore and access functionality of the selected application 358.

The menu key or button 606 is to the left of the trackball 121 andactivates an extended menu 618 that lists actions likely desirablerelative to the presently displayed screen 610. The menu key or button606 provides a consistent location where the user can look for commands.Each application 358 has its own extended menu 618 consisting ofapplication-specific menus.

Clicking (depressing) the trackball 121 when an icon on the home screen610 is highlighted opens the application 358, preferably to a commonpage used by users. For example, if the email message's icon 612 ishighlighted, then a page listing the messages 616 will open (See FIG. 5a). When not on the home screen 610, but while a page of an application358 is displayed without a menu showing, clicking the trackball 121 isreferred to as an ambiguous selection since several commands may applyin that circumstance. This ambiguous selection will cause a short menu624 to appear on the display screen 322. The short menu 624 contains alist of menu items that are preferably the most commonly used commandsin the present screen context. These short menus 624 again are based onthe interface principle of see and click. The options or menus changeaccording to the task at hand.

The items shown in these short menus 624 preferably are those that auser performs frequently. In other embodiments, the short menu 624 isselected based on either predefined user or programmer preference. Theseshort menus 624 are preferably correctly organized, worded clearly, andbehave correctly in order for the user to understand what options theyshould expect to see, and how to access the additional functionalityspecific to the selected application 358.

In at least one embodiment, the items displayed in the short menu 624are dynamically updated depending upon the user's selection of itemsfrom the extended menu 618 (See FIGS. 5 d and 5 e). As items arerepeatedly selected from the extended menu 618, the menu items areranked and depending upon their frequency of selection will relativelyappear in the short menu 624. The number of items in the short menu 624is preferably between two and ten items. The items displayed in theshort menu 624 can also be user selected in one embodiment.

In another embodiment, the information for the short menu 624 is storedlocally as well as at a central location. The transmission of the shortmenus 624 that are applicable for the particular user is via acommunication system as described below. The information stored at thecentral location allows the user to access that information on multipledevices. This will allow the user to experience identical menus ondifferent devices. This is helpful when a user would like to encounterthe same interface, but uses the devices in different ways. Theinformation alternatively may be stored on a memory card and transferredbetween devices via the memory card.

For purposes of example, in the following disclosure, the use of themenus 618, 624, trackball 121 and keys are discussed relative to the useof an email message application 358.

Initially, the user uses the trackball 121 to scroll to the desiredapplication 358. In this case, it is the email messaging application358. In FIGS. 3 a and 3 b, the email icon 612 (a letter envelope) ishighlighted in a conventional manner, for example, with a frame as shownin FIG. 3 a or with a highlighted background as depicted in FIG. 3 b.Then, the menu key 606 is activated by depressing or “clicking” it,which brings up a high level extended menu 614 as shown in FIG. 4. Thismenu 614 can include the following menu items:

Compose... --------------- Search... Applications Settings--------------- Profile < Normal > --------------- BlueTooth On/OffWireless On/Off Key Lock On/Off --------------- Help

For example, clicking on “Compose” would initiate the address bookfunction 352 and allow the user to select an addressee, select the typeof message (email, SMS, IM, etc.) and proceed with the composition of amessage. However, for the present example, the user desires to opentheir email message mailbox and view a list of email messages 616. Inanother embodiment, the menu includes the option “close,” which willclose the menu. Preferably, the option to close the menu is listed nearthe bottom. This enables closing of the menu without requiring the useof an additional key to close the menu.

To do this, the menu key 606 is clicked again and the high levelextended menu 614 for the email messaging application 358 is displayed,as shown in FIG. 4. If the menu item “Open” is not already highlighted,then the trackball 121 is used to scroll to this item such that it ishighlighted. Once the menu item “Open” is highlighted, the trackball 121is clicked. A list of email messages 616 is displayed on the screen 322as shown in FIG. 5 a.

In order to open and read a particular email message, the trackball 121is then used to scroll to the desired email message 619 in the displayedlist causing it to be highlighted. The menu key 606 is clicked and theextended menu 618 is displayed, for example as shown in FIG. 5 b. If themenu item “Open” is not already highlighted, then the trackball 121 isused to scroll to this item such that it is highlighted. Once the menuitem “Open” is highlighted, the trackball 121 is clicked. The desiredmessage 620 is displayed on the display screen 322 as shown in FIG. 5 c.

The user then decides what to do as a result of reading the message. Toperform the next action, the user clicks the menu key 606 and anotherextended menu 618 appears as shown in FIG. 5 e. If not alreadyhighlighted, the user then scrolls to the desired menu item using thetrackball 121 until the desired menu item (action or task) ishighlighted. Then, the user clicks the trackball 121 to activate thedesired action or task.

The use of the short menu 624 usually requires fewer clicks to performthe same action as compared to the use of solely the extended menus 618.For example, the following is an embodiment using the ambiguousselections and/or short menus 624 to open the email messagingapplication 358 and to open a particular email message.

Starting from the home screen or menu 610, the trackball 121 is used toscroll to and highlight the email message icon 612 as shown in FIGS. 3 aand 3 b. Clicking the trackball 121 directly opens the list of messages616 as shown in FIG. 5 a. The trackball 121 is clicked while no menu ispresent and this action is an ambiguous selection since more than oneaction or task is possible. This ambiguous selection while on the homescreen 610 and with the email icon 612 highlighted is treated by thehierarchal menu module 412 as a direction or command to open thehighlighted application 358. In this embodiment, it is believed that theuser is attempting to perform the task of opening the email applicationprogram 358 and the hierarchal menu module 412 is programmedaccordingly. Displaying the list of emails 616, as shown in FIG. 5 a, isthe action or task believed to be the most common desired, and thus tothe user, the procedure appears intuitive. Such ambiguous selection forother application 358 is preferably programmed with the most commondesired task or action for the selected application 358.

In this regard, it is appreciated that opening the email message list616 took two clicks and one scrolling using the extended menus 618,whereas with the ambiguous selection routine of the hierarchal menumodule 412 this was reduced to just a single click.

Now, with the email message list 616 on the display 322, the userscrolls to the desired email message, clicks with the trackball 121, andthe desired open email message 620 is displayed on the screen 322, asshown in FIG. 5 c. Again, there is no menu on the display 322 and theaction is an ambiguous selection since more than one action or task ispossible.

In this regard, it is also appreciated that opening a desired emailmessage took two clicks and possibly a scroll, whereas with theambiguous selection routine of the hierarchal menu module 412, this wasreduced to just a single click.

While the user is viewing the open email message 620 on the displayscreen 322 after having read its contents, the user clicks the trackball121 making another ambiguous selection, again since no menu is on thedisplay screen 322 and more than one action or task is possible. Thisambiguous selection causes the menu program to display a short menu 624,preferably of menu items corresponding to actions or tasks commonlyperformed by users at that point. In this embodiment, a short menu 624is shown in FIG. 5 d, and contains the actions or tasks—“Reply”,“Forward” and “Reply All.” The user then decides which action or task toperform and scrolls to it and clicks the trackball 121. Novice andexperienced users alike benefit from the reduction in informationdisplayed on the short menu 624 through the removal of less commonlyused tasks. The short menu 624, as shown in FIG. 5 d, contains a title“Email Message,” thus providing information about the application 358that is associated with the menu. Likewise, other titles for other menuswould be appropriate at times when menus are displayed in connectionwith other applications 358. In other embodiments, the short menu 624features the menu item “close” in addition to those items describedabove.

Thus, the short menu 624 provides convenient access to the high level,most often-used commands associated with an application 358. The shortmenu 624 that is displayed can also depend on the position of the cursorwithin the displayed page. The short menu 624 can be considered as ashortcut to commands that make sense to the task at hand. In some cases,when on the home screen 610, rather than opening the indicatedapplication 358, a short menu 624 can be displayed with the more commonsubset of actions, tasks or other commands by affecting an ambiguousrequest by clicking on a highlighted application 358 icon on the homescreen 610.

If the desired action or task is not listed on the short menu 624, theuser can click the menu key 606 to view the extended menu 618, such asshown in FIG. 5 e using the exemplary email messaging scenario.Alternatively, the short menu 624 can have a menu item that allows theuser to scroll to and select the item as shown in FIG. 5 d. Once thatmenu item has been selected, then the extended menu 618 replaces theshort menu 624. For example, the short menu 624 in FIG. 5 d has a menuitem “show more” for this purpose. The name of this menu item can be anyother that conveys a similar meaning, such as “Full” or “Extended” or anicon that is used by the device 300 provider and identified in itsliterature to have that meaning. Likewise, the menu key 606 in apreferred embodiment features an icon or the like that is shown next tothe “show more” menu item.

Other applications of short menus 624 are possible as well. Anotherexample of the use of a short menu 624 is when the device 300 featuressoft keys that can be user customized. Since these soft keys are usercustomizable, a short menu 624 can be activated when the soft key isactivated two times without any additional user input and/or within apredefined time period. The short menu 624 would present options tochange the soft key to bring up different program options. The shortmenu 624 likewise could feature the extended menu 618 features and closeoptions mentioned above.

Example methods for implementing an embodiment of a hierarchical menuand ambiguous selection will now be described with primary reference tothe flow diagram of FIG. 6. The methods apply generally to the exemplaryembodiments discussed above with respect to FIGS. 3 a, 3 b, 4, 5 a-5 e.The elements of the described methods may be performed by anyappropriate means including, for example, by hardware logic blocks on anASIC or by the execution of processor-readable instructions defined on aprocessor-readable medium.

A “processor-readable medium,” as used herein, can be any means that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport instructions foruse or execution by a processor 338. A processor-readable medium can be,without limitation, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagationmedium. More specific examples of a processor-readable medium include,among others, an electrical connection (electronic) having one or morewires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random access memory(RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory (ROM) (magnetic), an erasableprogrammable-read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber(optical), a rewritable compact disc (CD-RW) (optical), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical), and a solid statestorage device (magnetic; e.g., flash memory).

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method 800 for implementing ahierarchical menu with ambiguous selection on a handheld electronicdevice 300, PDA, or other similar device having a small display screen322. The method 800 describes a hierarchical menu process that couldcontinue well beyond the number of submenus that are discussed in themethod itself Thus, the extent of method 800 is not intended as alimitation. Rather, the extent of method 800 is intended to generallyexpress the manner by which a hierarchical menu with ambiguous selectioncan be implemented in lesser and greater degrees of size and complexity.

Initially, a home screen 802 is displayed on the display screen 322. Theuser scrolls to a particular application 358 using a navigation tool.The user can then depress the menu key 606 to initiate a non-ambiguousselection 804 of that particular application 358 that is received by themethod 800. The method 800 then causes the selected application 358 toopen an application 806 and display a page 808 on the display screen322. Alternatively, the user can make an ambiguous selection 810. Forexample, if the navigation tool is a trackball 121 having a depressiblerolling member, the user depresses the rolling member when no menu ispresent. The method 800 receives the ambiguous selection 810 and thenmust determine whether there is a short menu for this application 812.If there is no short menu 624, then the method 800 causes theapplication to open 806 and display a page 808. If there is a short menu624, then the method causes the display of the applications short menu814. The user then scrolls to the desired menu item and depresses therolling member. The method 800 receives a non-ambiguous selection of themenu item 816 and either displays a page or causes the computer toperform the task selected 818.

Once a page is displayed 808, 818, the user again has two choices. Theuser can depress the menu key 606 and the method 800 receives a commandto display an extended menu 820 corresponding to the displayed page. Themethod 800 then displays that extended menu 822. The user then scrollsto a particular menu item and depresses the rolling member which causesthe method 800 to receive a non-ambiguous selection of the menu item824. The method 800 then displays a page or performs the task per theselection 826. Alternatively, the user can depress the rolling memberwith no menu displayed causing an ambiguous selection 828. The method800 receives this ambiguous selection 828 and causes the display of acorresponding short menu 830, or the method 800 can be programmed toperform a particular task that is the most common for the displayed page(not shown in FIG. 6). With the short menu 624 displayed, the user canthen scroll to the desired menu item and depress the rolling member togenerate a non-ambiguous selection 832. The method 800 receives thenon-ambiguous selection of the menu item 832 and causes the display of apage or performance of a task per the selection 834.

If the user is presented with another displayed page, the user canrepeat steps 820 through 826 or 828 through 834, depending on whetherthe user uses an extended menu 618 or short menu 624, respectively.

Once the particular activity is completed, the user can use the back key608 to navigate back through the various pages displayed until the userreaches a page from which the user can perform another activity orselect another application 358 upon reaching the home screen 802. Thedevice can be equipped with an escape key 608 to go to the home screen802 directly. Alternatively, an ambiguous selection to display a shortmenu or a non-ambiguous selection can be made to display a short orextended menu that has a home screen menu item.

According to the present disclosure, applications of the short menu 624described above in relation to email exemplarily take the form of theseveral embodiments described hereinbelow. One such embodiment takes theform of a handheld electronic device 300 that is programmed to display,upon user request, an abbreviated menu of user-selectable actions 1000relative to one or more designated emails 619 signified on the displayscreen 322 of the device 300. The abbreviated menu addressed in thefollowing embodiment(s) has also been described as a short menu 624, thedetails of which are further explained below. In these regards, auser-selectable action 1000 refers to an action that the user wishes tobe taken relative to a designated message 619, for example, opening ahighlighted email. This user-selectable action 1000 can be, for example,indicated by the user through the actuation of an auxiliary input device328 such as a trackball 121 or thumbwheel 221.

As a general and common starting point, a listing of email messages 616is displayed on the display screen 322 of the handheld device 300 andthe user designates at least one of the email messages 619 for furtheraction or treatment. One exemplary listing of email messages is shown inFIG. 7. This email listing 616 format could be the default screen or aspecific view inside the email program. The listing of email messages616 comes from an email box that is user-accessible via the handheldelectronic device 300. The email box in one embodiment is stored on aserver and synchronized with the device 300 over the communicationnetwork 319 described above. Alternatively, the device 300 retains andstores emails that have been previously synchronized to a local mailbox. The user can select messages and move the messages to other emailboxes to which the user has access either on the device 300 or on aremote server. If the user moves the email messages to a differentfolder on the device 300, these changes can later be synchronized with aserver that is capable of storing messages, as well as optionallysending and receiving email messages.

In one embodiment, the user of the handheld electronic device 300designates the email message(s) through the use of an auxiliary inputdevice 328. This auxiliary input device 328 as described above caninclude a trackball 121, thumbwheel 221, navigation pad, cursor keys andthe like. These auxiliary input devices 328 allow the user to designatea desired email message or group of messages through highlighting orsome other type of visual designation. This visual designation caninclude font changes, color changes, bracketing and the like.

As described above, the handheld device 300 contains a microprocessor338. This microprocessor 338 has a control program, such as an operatingsystem 408 for the device 300 for controlling operation of the handheldelectronic device 300. The control program is configured to process anambiguous request for the display of menu options of user-selectableactions 1000 associated with the designated email message(s) 619 basedupon detection of a user menu request. The ambiguous request, asdescribed above, occurs when there are multiple actions that a usermight want to take. The control program can determine whether therequest is ambiguous depending upon cursor position, such as in thiscase where an email message(s) has been designated. An example ofdetection of a user menu request by the control program is when the userdepresses/actuates the trackball 121 thereby indicating a request for alist of menu options.

Once the detection of the user menu request has been made, themicroprocessor 338 displays an abbreviated menu having a short list 624of menu options which is a subset of a full menu 618 of options ofuser-selectable actions available relative the designated emailmessage(s). The user-selectable actions 1000 of the short list 624 ofmenu options are those options that have been assessed to have a higherprobability for being user-selected than at least some of theuser-selectable actions 1000 of the full menu 618 of options that arenot included in the short list 624 of menu options. Thus, the short list624 contains items that a user of the handheld device 300 is more likelyto use than some of the items shown on the full or extended menu 618.Further details regarding the selection of those items for a short menu624 are provided above.

In at least one embodiment, the short list 624 of menu options that aredisplayed when the user makes the menu request comprises (i) file tofolder; (ii) mark opened/unopened; (iii) save and (iv) delete. Theoption ‘file to folder’ indicates that the user wishes to file the emailmessage(s) to a specified folder on the device 300 or email server. Theoption to ‘mark opened/unopened’ allows the user to change the status ofthe email message(s) to opened or unopened status as desired. The saveand delete options will save or delete the designated email message(s).In another embodiment, the short list 624 of menu options consists of(i) file to folder; (ii) mark opened/unopened; (iii) save and (iv)delete while in yet another embodiment, (v) full menu is added to thisclosed listing of possible actions.

In at least one embodiment, the short menu 624 is sized so that it fillsa substantial entirety of the display screen 322. The size of the shortmenu 624 in relation to the display screen 322 can change depending uponthe size of the display screen 322. When the device 300 is sized asdescribed below, the short menu 624 often fills a large portion of thedisplay screen 322. The amount of the display screen 322 that the shortmenu 624 occupies is contemplated to preferably range between 10% and70%. Other sizes can also enable the user to be used that easily readthe menu while still being able to see the underlying data displayed onthe screen 322 as well.

In order to facilitate the entering of text associated with these emailmessages and the like, a keyboard 332 is located below the displayscreen 322 and is configured to accommodate textual input to thehandheld electronic device 300. This keyboard 332 can either be a fullor reduced keyboard 332 as described below. Furthermore, a navigationtool in one embodiment is located essentially between the keyboard 332and the display screen 322 of the handheld electronic device 300. Thisnavigation tool can be an auxiliary input device including thosementioned above. The navigation tool can further be advantageouslywidthwise centered on the face of the device 300.

Preferably, the handheld device 300 is sized for portable use and to bepocketed. In one embodiment the handheld electronic device 300 is sizedto be cradled in the palm of the user's hand. The handheld device 300 isadvantageously sized such that it is longer than wide. This preservesthe device's 300 cradlability while maintaining surface real estate forsuch things as the display screen 322 and keyboard 332. In a developmentof this embodiment, the handheld electronic device 300 is sized suchthat the width of the handheld electronic device 300 measures betweenapproximately two and approximately three inches thereby facilitatingthe device 300 being palm cradled. Furthermore, these dimensionrequirements may be adapted in order to enable the user to easily carrythe device 300.

Furthermore, the handheld electronic device 300 is preferrably capableof communication within a wireless network 319. Thus, this device 300can be described as a wireless handheld communication device 300. Adevice 300 that is so configured is capable of transmitting data to andfrom a communication network 319 utilizing radio frequency signals. Thewireless communication device 300 can be equipped to send voice signalsas well as data information to the wireless network 319. The wirelesscommunication device 300 is capable of transmitting textual data as wellas other data including but not limited to graphical data, electronicfiles, and software.

Yet another embodiment takes the form of a method for causing, upon userrequest, the display of an abbreviated menu of user-selectable actions1000 on a display screen 322 of the handheld electronic device 300 whena listing of messages from an email box is presented on the displayscreen 322 of the device 300 as depicted in FIG. 8. First, the methodincludes displaying a listing of email messages on the display screen ofthe handheld electronic device (block 900). This listing of emailmessages is associated with an email box that is user-accessible via thehandheld electronic device 300. Next, the method includes designating atleast one mail message utilizing an auxiliary user input device on thehandheld electronic device (block 902). Once at least one email messagehas been designated, the method further involves initiating an ambiguousrequest for display of menu options of user-selectable actionsassociated with designated email message(s) (block 904). Furthermore,the method involves displaying an abbreviated menu having a short listof menu options (block 906). This short menu 624 as described aboveincludes those options that have been assessed a higher probability forbeing user-selected than at least some of the user-selectable actions1000 of the full menu 618. Thus, the short list 624 of menu options is asubset of a full menu 618 of options of user-selectable actions 1000available relative to the email message(s) and the user selectableactions 1000 of the short list 624 of menu options having been assesseda higher probability for being user-selected than at least some of theuser-selectable actions 1000 of the full menu 618 of options that arenot included in the short list 624 of menu options.

In one embodiment, the short list 624 includes the followinguser-selectable actions 1000 available relative to the designated emailmessage(s): (i) file to folder; (ii) mark opened/unopened; (iii) save;(iv) delete and optionally (v) full menu. Additionally, the short menu624 list can further be refined by having a plurality of email messagesthat are selected collectively and are signified as group of emailmessages by the user. Then a determination is made whether theabbreviated menu provides options needed by the user (block 908). If theoptions needed by the user are not displayed then a full (long) menuhaving additional options is displayed (910). Once the appropriate menuoptions are displayed (block 908, 910), the user chooses the desiredoption (block 912).

In another embodiment, the short list 624 of the method consists of aclosed group of user-selectable actions available relative to thedesignated email message(s) including: (i) file to folder; (ii) markopened/unopened; (iii) save and (iv) delete. In another example, theclosed group further includes (v) full menu, for expanding the listingof available action.

In other embodiments, the method for causing display of a short menualso includes the various features described above in relation to thehandheld device embodiments. These various features include dimensionaloptions, communication options, auxiliary input options and short menusizing as described above in relation to the handheld electronic device300 embodiment.

Still another embodiment takes the form of a processing subsystemconfigured to be installed in a mobile communication device 300comprising a user interface including a display 322 and a keyboard 332having a plurality of input keys with which letters are associated. Theprocessing subsystem serves as an operating system 408 for theincorporating device 300. The processing subsystem preferably includes amicroprocessor 338 and a media storage device connected with othersystems and subsystems 342 of the device 300. The microprocessor 338 canbe any integrated circuit or the like that is capable of performingcomputational or control tasks. The media storage device can exemplarilyinclude a flash memory 324, a hard drive, a floppy disk, RAM 326, ROM,and other similar storage media.

As stated above, the operating system 408 software controls operation ofthe incorporating mobile communication device 300. The operatingsoftware 408 is programmed to control operation of the handheldelectronic device 300 and the control program is configured to processan ambiguous request for display of menu options of user-selectableactions 1000 associated with at least one designated email message of aplurality of email messages that are displayed on the device 300 basedupon detection of a user menu request. Based on the detection of theuser menu request, the microprocessor 338 displays an abbreviated menuhaving a short list 624 of menu options which is a subset of a full menu618 of options of user-selectable actions 1000 of the short list 624 ofmenu options. The short list 624 of menu options have been assessed ahigher probability for being user-selected than at least some of theuser-selectable actions 1000 of the full menu 618 of options that arenot included in the short list 624 of menu options.

In other embodiments, the processing subsystem also includes the variousfeatures described above in relation to the handheld device 300embodiments. These various features include dimensional options,communication options, auxiliary input options and short menu sizing asdescribed above in relation to the handheld electronic device 300embodiment. Additionally, the options available from the short menu 624are the same as those described above in relation to the method andhandheld device 300 embodiments.

As intimated hereinabove, one of the more important aspects of thehandheld electronic device 300 to which this disclosure is directed isits size. While some users will grasp the device 300 in both hands, itis intended that a predominance of users will cradle the device 300 inone hand in such a manner that input and control over the device 300 canbe affected using the thumb of the same hand in which the device 300 isheld, however it is appreciated that additional control can be effectedby using both hands. As a handheld device 300 that is easy to grasp anddesirably pocketable, the size of the device 300 must be kept relativelysmall. Of the device's dimensions, limiting its width is important forthe purpose of assuring cradleability in a user's hand. Moreover, it ispreferred that the width of the device 300 be maintained at less thanten centimeters (approximately four inches). Keeping the device 300within these dimensional limits provides a hand cradleable unit thatusers prefer for its usability and portability. Limitations with respectto the height (length) of the device 300 are less stringent whenconsidering hand-cradleability. Therefore, in order to gain greatersize, the device 300 can be advantageously configured so that its heightis greater than its width, but still remain easily supported andoperated in one hand.

A potential problem is presented by the small size of the device 300 inthat there is limited exterior surface area for the inclusion of userinput and device output features. This is especially true for the “primereal estate” on the front face of the device 300, where it is mostadvantageous to include a display screen 322 that outputs information tothe user. The display screen 322 is preferably located above a keyboardthat is utilized for data entry into the device 300 by the user. If thescreen 322 is provided below the keyboard 332, a problem occurs in thatviewing the screen 322 is inhibited when the user is inputting datausing the keyboard 332. Therefore it is preferred that the displayscreen 322 be above the input area, thereby solving the problem byassuring that the hands and fingers do not block the view of the screen332 during data entry periods.

To facilitate textual data entry into the device 300, an alphabetickeyboard is provided. In one version, as exemplified in FIG. 9, a fullalphabetic keyboard 332 is utilized in which there is one key perletter. In this regard, the associated letters can be advantageouslyorganized in QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY or Dvorak layouts, among others,thereby capitalizing on certain users' familiarity with these specialletter orders. In order to stay within the bounds of the limited frontsurface area, however, each of the keys must be commensurately smallwhen, for example, twenty-six keys must be provided in the instance ofthe English language.

An alternative configuration is to provide a reduced keyboard in whichat least some of the keys have more than one letter associated therewith(see FIG. 1 for an example). This means that fewer keys are requiredwhich makes it possible for those fewer keys to each be larger than inthe instance when a full keyboard is provided on a similarly dimensioneddevice. Some users will prefer the solution of the larger keys over thesmaller ones, but it is necessary that software or hardware solutions beprovided in order to discriminate which of the several associatedletters the user intends based on a particular key actuation, a problemthe full keyboard avoids.

Preferably, the character discrimination is accomplished utilizingdisambiguation software included on the device 300. To accommodatesoftware use on the device 300, a memory 324 and microprocessor 338 areprovided within the body of the handheld unit for receiving, storing,processing, and outputting data during use. Therefore, the problem ofneeding a textual data input means is solved by the provision of eithera full or reduced alphabetic keyboard 332 on the presently disclosedhandheld electronic device 300. It should be further appreciated thatthe keyboard 332 can be alternatively provided on a touch sensitivescreen in either a reduced or full format.

Keys, typically of a push-button or touchpad nature, perform well asdata entry devices but present problems to the user when they must alsobe used to affect navigational control over a screen-cursor. In order tosolve this problem, the present handheld electronic device 300preferably includes an auxiliary input that acts as a cursornavigational tool and which is also exteriorly located upon the frontface of the device 300. Its front face location is particularlyadvantageous because it makes the tool easily thumb-actuable like thekeys of the keyboard. In a particularly useful embodiment, thenavigational tool is a trackball 121 which is easily utilized toinstruct two-dimensional screen cursor movement in substantially anydirection, as well as act as an actuator when the ball of the trackball121 is depressed like a button. The placement of the trackball 121 ispreferably above the keyboard 332 and below the display screen 322;here, it avoids interference during keyboarding and does not block theuser's view of the display screen 322 during use (See FIG. 1).

In some configurations, the handheld electronic device 300 may bestandalone in that it does not connect to the “outside world.” Asdiscussed before, one example would be a PDA that stores such things ascalendars and contact information but is not capable of synchronizing orcommunicating with other devices. In most situations such isolation willbe viewed detrimentally in that synchronization is a highly desiredcharacteristic of handheld devices today. Moreover, the utility of thedevice 300 is significantly enhanced when connectable within acommunication system, and particularly when connectable on a wirelessbasis in a network 319 in which voice, text messaging, and other datatransfer are accommodated.

As shown in FIG. 1, the handheld electronic device 300 is cradleable inthe palm of a user's hand. The handheld device 300 is provided with akeyboard 332 to enter text data and place telephone calls and a displayscreen 322 for communicating information to the user. A connect/send key605 is preferably provided to aid in the placement of a phone call.Additionally, a disconnect/end key 609 is provided. The send key 605 andend key 609 preferably are arranged in a row of keys including aauxiliary input device 328. Additionally, the row of keys, including thenavigation tool, preferably has a menu key 606 and a back key or escapekey 608 The menu key 606 is used to bring up a menu and the escape key608 is used to return to the previous screen or previous menu selection.

The handheld electronic device 300 includes an input portion 604 and anoutput display portion. The output display portion can be a displayscreen 322, such as an LCD or other similar display device.

The keyboard 332 includes a plurality of keys that can be of a physicalnature such as actuable buttons or they can be of a software nature,typically constituted by virtual representations of physical keys on adisplay screen 322 (referred to herein as “software keys”). It is alsocontemplated that the user input can be provided as a combination of thetwo types of keys. Each key of the plurality of keys has at least oneactuable action which can be the input of a character, a command or afunction. In this context, “characters” are contemplated to exemplarilyinclude alphabetic letters, language symbols, numbers, punctuation,insignias, icons, pictures, and even a blank space. Input commands andfunctions can include such things as delete, backspace, moving a cursorup, down, left or right, initiating an arithmetic function or command,initiating a command or function specific to an application program orfeature in use, initiating a command or function programmed by the userand other such commands and functions that are well known to thosepersons skilled in the art. Specific keys or other types of inputdevices can be used to navigate through the various applications andfeatures thereof. Further, depending on the application 358 or featurein use, specific keys can be enabled or disabled.

In the case of physical keys, all or a portion of the plurality of keyshave one or more indicia, representing character(s), command(s), and/orfunctions(s), displayed at their top surface and/or on the surface ofthe area adjacent the respective key. In the instance where the indiciaof a key's function is provided adjacent the key, the indicia can beprinted on the device cover beside the key, or in the instance of keyslocated adjacent the display screen 322. Additionally, current indiciafor the key may be temporarily shown nearby the key on the screen 322.

In the case of software keys, the indicia for the respective keys areshown on the display screen 322, which in one embodiment is enabled bytouching the display screen 322, for example, with a stylus to generatethe character or activate the indicated command or function. Someexamples of display screens 322 capable of detecting a touch includeresistive, capacitive, projected capacitive, infrared and surfaceacoustic wave (SAW) touchscreens.

Physical and software keys can be combined in many different ways asappreciated by those skilled in the art. In one embodiment, physical andsoftware keys are combined such that the plurality of enabled keys for aparticular application or feature of the handheld electronic device 300is shown on the display screen 322 in the same configuration as thephysical keys. Using this configuration, the user can select theappropriate physical key corresponding to what is shown on the displayscreen 322. Thus, the desired character, command or function is obtainedby depressing the physical key corresponding to the character, commandor function displayed at a corresponding position on the display screen322, rather than touching the display screen 322.

The various characters, commands and functions associated with keyboardtyping in general are traditionally arranged using various conventions.The most common of these in the United States, for instance, is theQWERTY keyboard layout. Others include the QWLRTZ, AZERTY, and Dvorakkeyboard configurations. The QWERTY keyboard layout is the standardEnglish-language alphabetic key arrangement 44 a shown in FIG. 10 a. TheQWERTZ keyboard layout is normally used in German-speaking regions; thisalphabetic key arrangement 44 b is shown in FIG. 10 b. The AZERTYkeyboard layout 44 c is normally used in French-speaking regions and isshown in FIG. 10 c. The Dvorak keyboard layout was designed to allowtypists to type faster; this alphabetic key arrangement 44 d is shown inFIG. 10 d.

Alphabetic key arrangements are often presented along with numeric keyarrangements. Typically, the numbers 1-9 and 0 are positioned in the rowabove the alphabetic keys 44, as shown in FIG. 10 a-d. Alternatively,the numbers share keys with the alphabetic characters, such as the toprow of the QWERTY keyboard (see FIG. 9 for an example). Yet anotherexemplary numeric key arrangement is shown in FIG. 11, where a “ten-key”style numeric keypad 46 is provided on a separate set of keys that isspaced from the alphabetic/numeric key arrangement 44. The ten-keystyled numeric keypad 46 includes the numbers “7”, “8”, “9” arranged ina top row, “4”, “5”, “6” arranged in a second row, “1”, “2”, “3”arranged in a third row, and “0” in a bottom row. Further, a numericphone key arrangement 42 is exemplarily illustrated in FIG. 12.

As shown in FIG. 12, the numeric phone key arrangement 42 may alsoutilize a surface treatment on the surface of the center “5” key. Thissurface treatment is configured such that the top surface of the key isdistinctive from the surface of other keys. Preferably the surfacetreatment is in the form of a raised bump or recessed dimple 43.Alternatively, raised bumps may be positioned on the housing around the“5” key and do not necessarily have to be positioned directly on thekey.

It is desirable for handheld electronic devices 300 to include acombined text-entry keyboard and a telephony keyboard. Examples of suchmobile communication devices 300 include mobile stations, cellulartelephones, wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), two-way pagingdevices, and others. Various keyboards are used with such devices andcan be termed a full keyboard, a reduced keyboard, or phone key pad.

In embodiments of a handheld electronic device 300 having a fullkeyboard, the alphabetic characters are singly associated with theplurality of physical keys. Thus, in an English-language keyboard ofthis configuration, there are at least 26 keys in the plurality so thatthere is at least one key for each letter.

A device 300 incorporating a full keyboard for the alphabetic charactersis shown in FIG. 9. The device shown in FIG. 9 incorporates numeric keysin a single row. FIGS. 12 and 13 both feature numeric keys arrangedaccording to the ITU Standard E.161 form. In addition, FIG. 13 alsoincorporates alphabetic characters according to the ITU Standard E.161layout as well.

As intimated above, in order to further reduce the size of a handheldelectronic device 300 without making the physical keys or software keystoo small, some handheld electronic devices 300 use a reduced keyboard,where more than one character/command/function is associated with eachof at least a portion of the plurality of keys. This results in certainkeys being ambiguous since more than one character is represented by orassociated with the key, even though only one of those characters istypically intended by the user when activating the key.

Thus, certain software usually runs on the processor 338 of these typesof handheld electronic devices 300 to determine or predict what letteror word has been intended by the user. Some examples of software includepredictive text routines which typically include a disambiguation engineand/or predictive editor application. The software preferably also hasthe ability to recognize character letter sequences that are common tothe particular language, such as, in the case of English, words endingin “ing.” Such systems can also “learn” the typing style of the usermaking note of frequently used words to increase the predictive aspectof the software. Other types of predictive text computer programs may beutilized with the reduced keyboard arrangements described herein,without limitation. Some specific examples include the multi-tap methodof character selection and “text on nine keys”.

The keys of reduced keyboards are laid out with various arrangements ofcharacters, commands and functions associated therewith. In regards toalphabetic characters, the different keyboard layouts identified aboveare selectively used based on a user's preference and familiarity; forexample, the QWERTY keyboard layout is most often used by Englishspeakers who have become accustomed to the key arrangement.

FIG. 1 shows a handheld electronic device 300 that carries an example ofa reduced keyboard using the QWERTY keyboard layout on a physicalkeyboard array of twenty keys comprising five columns and four rows.Fourteen keys are used for alphabetic characters and ten keys are usedfor numbers. Nine of the ten numbers share a key with alphabeticcharacters. The “space” key and the number “0” share the same key, whichis centered on the device and centered below the remainder of thenumbers on the keyboard 332. While in other embodiments, the number “0”may be located on other keys. Many of the keys have different sizes thanthe other keys, and the rows are non-linear. In particular, the keys inthe middle column 64 are wider than keys in the outer columns 60, 62, 66and 68. To readily identify the phone user interface (the second userinterface), the numeric phone keys 0-9 include a color scheme that isdifferent from that of the remaining keys associated with the QWERTY keyarrangement. As exemplified in FIG. 1, a color scheme of the numericphone keys has a two tone appearance, with the upper portion of thenumeric keys being a first color and the lower portion of the numerickeys being a second color. The first color may be lighter than thesecond color, or darker than the second color.

Another embodiment of a reduced alphabetic keyboard is found on astandard phone keypad 42. Most handheld electronic devices 300 having aphone key pad 42 also typically include alphabetic key arrangementsoverlaying or coinciding with the numeric keys as shown in FIG. 13. Suchalphanumeric phone keypads are used in many, if not most, traditionalhandheld telephony mobile communication devices such as cellularhandsets.

As described above, the International Telecommunications Union (“ITU”)has established phone standards for the arrangement of alphanumerickeys. The standard phone numeric key arrangement shown in FIG. 12 (noalphabetic letters) and 13 (with alphabetic letters) corresponds to ITUStandard E.161, entitled “Arrangement of Digits, Letters, and Symbols onTelephones and Other Devices That Can Be Used for Gaining Access to aTelephone Network.” This standard is also known as ANSI TI.703-1995/1999and ISO/IEC 9995-8:1994. Regarding the numeric arrangement, it can beaptly described as a top-to-bottom ascending orderthree-by-three-over-zero pattern.

Exemplary embodiments have been described hereinabove regarding bothhandheld electronic devices 300, as well as the communication networks319 within which they cooperate. It should be appreciated, however, thata focus of the present disclosure is the enablement of a user of suchwireless handheld electronic devices 300 to implement user controlinterface menus to overcome the various disadvantages with conventionaldropdown-style hierarchical menus. The specific features and acts aredisclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the disclosed solution.

1. A method for causing, upon user request, the display of anabbreviated menu of user-selectable actions on a display screen of ahandheld electronic device when a listing of messages in an email box ispresented on the display screen of the device, said method comprising:displaying a listing of email messages on a display screen of a handheldelectronic device, said listing of email messages being associated withan email box that is user-accessible via the handheld electronic device;designating at least one email message utilizing an auxiliary user inputdevice on the handheld electronic device; initiating an ambiguousrequest for display of menu options of user-selectable actionsassociated with the at least one designated email message; anddisplaying an abbreviated menu having a short list of menu options whichis a subset of a full menu of options of user-selectable actionsavailable relative to the at least one designated email message and theuser-selectable actions of said short list of menu options having beenassessed a higher probability for being user-selected than at least someof the user-selectable actions of the full menu of options that are notincluded in said short list of menu options; wherein said short list ofmenu options comprises the following user-selectable actions availablerelative to the at least one designated email message: (i) file tofolder; (ii) mark opened/unopened; (iii) save and (iv) delete.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising said short list of menu optionsconsisting of the following user-selectable actions available relativeto the at least one designated email message: (i) file to folder; (ii)mark opened/unopened; (iii) save and (iv) delete.
 3. The method of claim1, further comprising said short list of menu options consisting of thefollowing user-selectable actions available relative to the at least onedesignated email message: (i) file to folder; (ii) mark opened/unopened;(iii) save; (iv) delete and (v) full menu.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein said at least one email message is a plurality of email messagescollectively signified as a group of email messages.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, further comprising causing said initiation of the ambiguousrequest for display of menu options of user-selectable actions byactuating the auxiliary user input device on the handheld electronicdevice.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the auxiliary user inputdevice is a trackball.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein the short menufills a substantial entirety of the display screen.
 8. The method ofclaim 3, wherein said handheld electronic device is a wireless handheldcommunication device that transmits data to, and receives data from acommunication network utilizing radio frequency signals.
 9. The methodof claim 3, wherein said handheld electronic device is sized to becradled in the palm of a user's hand.
 10. The method of claim 3, whereinsaid handheld electronic device is longer than wide.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the width of said handheld electronic device measuresbetween approximately two and approximately three inches therebyfacilitating the device being palm cradled.
 12. The method of claim 3,wherein said handheld electronic device further comprises a keyboardsuitable for accommodating textual input to the handheld electronicdevice and the auxiliary user input device is located essentiallybetween the keyboard and the display screen of the handheld electronicdevice.
 13. A handheld electronic device programmed to display, uponuser request, an abbreviated menu of user-selectable actions on adisplay screen of the device when a listing of messages associated withan email box is presented on the display screen of the device, saidhandheld electronic device comprising: a display screen on which alisting of email messages is displayed, said listing of email messagesbeing associated with an email box that is user-accessible via thehandheld electronic device and at least one of the email messages isuser-designated for action to be taken relative thereto; a keyboardlocated below said display screen and configured to accommodate textualinput to the handheld electronic device; and a microprocessor having acontrol program associated therewith for controlling operation of saidhandheld electronic device, said control program configured to processan ambiguous request for display of menu options of user-selectableactions associated with the at least one designated email message basedupon detection of a user menu request, and, based on said detection ofthe user menu request, said microprocessor displays an abbreviated menuhaving a short list of menu options which is a subset of a full menu ofoptions of user-selectable actions available relative to the at leastone designated email message and the user-selectable actions of saidshort list of menu options having been assessed a higher probability forbeing user-selected than at least some of the user-selectable actions ofthe full menu of options that are not included in said short list ofmenu options; wherein said short list of menu options comprises thefollowing user-selectable actions available relative to the at least onedesignated email message: (i) file to folder; (ii) mark opened/unopened;(iii) save and (iv) delete.
 14. The handheld electronic device of claim13, further comprising said short list of menu options consisting of thefollowing user-selectable actions available relative to the at least onedesignated email message: (i) file to folder; (ii) mark opened/unopened;(iii) save and (iv) delete.
 15. The handheld electronic device of claim13, further comprising said short list of menu options consisting of thefollowing user-selectable actions available relative to the at least onedesignated email message: (i) file to folder; (ii) mark opened/unopened;(iii) save; (iv) delete and (v) full menu.
 16. The handheld electronicdevice of claim 15, wherein said at least one email message is aplurality of email messages collectively signified as a group of emailmessages.
 17. The handheld electronic device of claim 16, furthercomprising: said auxiliary user input device is a trackball andinitiation of the ambiguous request for display of menu options ofuser-selectable actions is made by actuating the trackball; and saidhandheld electronic device is a wireless handheld communication devicethat transmits data to, and receives data from a communication networkutilizing radio frequency signals.
 18. The handheld electronic device ofclaim 15, further comprising a navigation tool located essentiallybetween the keyboard and the display screen of the handheld electronicdevice.
 19. The handheld electronic device of claim 15, wherein saidhandheld electronic device is longer than wide and the width of saidhandheld electronic device measures between approximately two andapproximately three inches thereby facilitating the device being palmcradled.
 20. A processing subsystem configured to be installed in ahandheld electronic device comprising a user interface including adisplay and a keyboard having a plurality of input keys with whichletters are associated, said processing subsystem comprising: operatingsystem software that controls operation of an incorporating handheldelectronic device and said operating system software is programmed tooperating system software of said handheld electronic device, saidcontrol program is configured to process an ambiguous request fordisplay of menu options of user-selectable actions associated with atleast one designated email message of a plurality of email messages thatare displayed on the device based upon detection of a user menu request,and, based on said detection of the user menu request, saidmicroprocessor displays an abbreviated menu having a short list of menuoptions which is a subset of a full menu of options of user-selectableactions available relative to the at least one designated email messageand the user-selectable actions of said short list of menu optionshaving been assessed a higher probability for being user-selected thanat least some of the user-selectable actions of the full menu of optionsthat are not included in said short list of menu options; wherein saidshort list of menu options comprises the following user-selectableactions available relative to the at least one designated email message:(i) file to folder; (ii) mark opened/unopened; (iii) save and (iv)delete.